It's Labour Day! Put away your white clothing and bring out your back to school gear. The question is... what to tote all that gear in? Whether it is to the office, or your next class, even in this digital age we always seem to have more than we can tuck under our arms.

I remember seeing Timbuk2 laptop friendly bags advertised in Macworld and MacAddict magazine way back in 1989. 23 years later the company is still innovating and just came out with their D-Lux Messenger Bag. Available in both Small and Medium, I decided to review the Medium bag and see just how much I could cram into it.

On the shelf, the D-Lux looks quite flat, but undo the two buckles on the front, lift up the front flap separating the velcro ​and peer into it's cavernous innards. How much could we fit into this bag for the first day of school? (with room to spare)...

A padded pouch provides room ample room for a 15" laptop, but what makes it interesting is that there are cut outs, to help ventilate warm laptops. If you have been typing away in a seminar all day , or using the laptop to stream HD video, you know that current generation portables are too hot even for your lap. Rather than trapping the heat, the cutouts and mesh let the heat vent out to bring the temperature down. One thing I check on all laptop cases (and isn't present on all bags) is padding for the bottom of the laptop in case of a nasty bump when setting it down. Thankfully this messenger bag has padding on the bottom of the laptop section. Next to the laptop compartment is the tablet slot, ​which are both secured with a velcro strap.

There are more compartments than I knew what to do with, and ample places to stash items. A "Napolean" style side entry pocket is just under the flap to grab something quickly without having to open anything. ​The top zippered pouch on the front hides a 10 1/2" / 26cm​ keychain which means you can unlock doors or swipe keycards without having to detach them.

Inside, again there are plenty of places to hold a full sized ac-adapter, pens, pads of paper and more.​

The D-Lux is made of durable ballistic nylon and a waterproof TPU liner. I wasn't worried about getting caught out in the rain with it despite having a laptop and an iPad inside and neither of them like water very much.​

I was a little skeptical of the new memory adjust cam buckle at first. I never adjusted my previous messenger bag, but after its simple ease of use, I found myself using it quite often. Have a load that is bouncing around on the small of your back? Flip open the buckle and cinch up the slack for a more controlled load. Cycling with the bag tight to your body? Unclip the buckle to provide instant slack so that you can take it off without it getting caught in your jacket or helmet as you lift the strap over your head.

My only critique about the bag is that it is better suited to be slung on your left side. There is only a single access zipper on the top of the bag which when slung on your right side closes so that the zipper is behind you. This means you almost have to take off the bag in order to 'quickly' dig inside it. Also, when you try and access the contents of the bag from the zipper and you have a laptop inside, it stiffens the bag so that you can't pull a very large item through the opening. Otherwise, this is a top notch messenger bag and you can see the years of Timbuk2's craftsmanship really shine.

Pick up your Timbuk2 D-Lux bag at your local Mountain Equipment Co-op​. It comes in Grey/Cold Blue (as shown in the photos) and in sizes Small and Medium. It includes a cross strap for extra stability while staying mobile such as on a bicycle. When dirty, hand wash and drip dry only. The Small is $109 and the Medium is $118 and both have lifetime guarantees.